Scientists Think They've Figured Out a Main Culprit of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Between 6 and 8 million people worldwide suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, a group of chronic intestinal disorders that can cause belly pain, urgent and frequent bowel movements, bloody stools and weight loss.

New research suggests that a malfunctioning member of the patient's own immune system called a killer T cell may be one of the culprits. This discovery may provide a new target for IBD medicines.

The two main types of IBD are ulcerative colitis, which mainly affects the colon, and Crohn's disease, which can affect the entire digestive tract. Researchers currently believe that IBD is triggered when an overactive immune system attacks harmless bacteria in the intestines.

Although there are many treatments for IBD, for as many as 75 percent of individuals with IBD there are no effective long-term treatments. This leaves many patients without good options.

https://theconversation.com/ibd-how-a-class-of-killer-t-cells-goes-...

IBD: How a class of killer T cells goes rogue in inflammatory bowel disease

Breakthrough in Artificial Photosynthesis Lets Scientists Store The Sun's Energy as Fuel

https://www.sciencealert.com/new-artificial-photosynthesis-device-c...

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One Theory Beyond the Standard Model Could Allow Wormholes that You Could Actually Fly Through

https://www.universetoday.com/147549/one-theory-beyond-the-standard...

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**Effectiveness of cloth masks depends on type of covering

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-effectiveness-masks.html?utm_source=n...

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Lupus, Arthritis Patients Aren't Necessarily High Risk For Severe COVID-19 After All

https://www.sciencealert.com/study-says-arthritis-and-lupus-patient...

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Human Vision and Color Perception

https://www.olympus-lifescience.com/en/microscope-resource/primer/l...

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The Human Eye's Response to Light

https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Penetran....

Warmer, acidifying ocean brings extinction for reef-building corals, renewal for relatives

Changes in ocean chemistry and temperature have had a dramatic effect on the diversity of corals and sea anemones, according to a team of scientists who have traced their evolution through deep time. This new study finds that reef-building corals emerged only when ocean conditions supported the construction of these creatures' stony skeletons, whereas diverse softer corals and sea anemones flourished at other times. Without a significant change to anthropogenic carbon emissions, the new findings present stark implications for the present and future of hard-bodied corals while suggesting a silver lining for the diversity of some of their softer-bodied relatives.

 Palaeoclimate ocean conditions shaped the evolution of corals and their skeletons through deep time, Nature Ecology and Evolution (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01291-1 , www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-01291-1

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-warmer-acidifying-ocean-extinction-re...

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Being a selfish jerk doesn't get you ahead, research finds

The evidence is in: Nice guys and gals don't finish last, and being a selfish jerk doesn't get you ahead.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-selfish-jerk-doesnt.html?utm...

New evidence for quantum fluctuations near a quantum critical point in a superconductor

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-evidence-quantum-fluctuations-critica...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/New-evidence-for-quant...  ----check @@

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Carbon footprints are hard to understand—here's what you need to know

https://theconversation.com/carbon-footprints-are-hard-to-understan...

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'Jumping' DNA regulates human neurons

The human genome contains over 4.5 million sequences of DNA called "transposable elements," virus-like entities that "jump" around and help regulate gene expression. They do this by binding transcription factors, which are proteins that regulate the rate of transcription of DNA to RNA, influencing gene expression in a broad range of biological events.

Now, an international team of scientists  has discovered that transposable elements play a significant role in influencing the development of the human brain.

Priscilla Turelli et al. Primate-restricted KRAB zinc finger proteins and target retrotransposons control gene expression in human neurons, Science Advances (2020). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba3200

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-dna-human-neurons.html?utm_s...

What Climate Change Does to the Human Body

An ENT physician sees the effects in her patients all the time

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-climate-change-does...

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Characteristics that Give Viruses Pandemic Potential

Scientists show how brain flexibility emerges in infants

Cognitive flexibility refers to the ability to readily switch between mental processes in response to external stimuli and different task demands. For example, when our brains are processing one task, an external stimulus is present, requiring us to switch our mental processes to attend to this external stimulus. This ability of switching from one to another mental task is the cognitive flexibility. Such flexibility can predict reading ability, academic success, resilience to stress, creativity, and lower risk of various neurological and psychiatric disorders. 

the researchers show that brain regions with high neural flexibility appear consistent with the core brain regions that support cognitive flexibility processing in adults, whereas brain regions governing basic brain functions, such as motor skills, exhibit lower neural flexibility in adults, demonstrating the emergence of functionally flexible brains during early infancy.

Weiyan Yin et al, The emergence of a functionally flexible brain during early infancy, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). DOI: 10.10

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-scientists-brain-flexibility...

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Radiocarbon dating and CT scans reveal Bronze Age tradition of keeping human remains

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-radiocarbon-dating-ct-scans-reveal.ht...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Radiocarbon-dating-and...;   - Check @@

Researchers shed light on split-second decision making

A little understood region of the cerebellum plays a critical role in making split-second 'go-no go' decisions, according to a new study from researchers.

Employing mice the team used a multiphoton microscope that peered into the brains of the free-moving rodents as they decided whether or not to lick a water solution.

The researchers focused specifically on the molecular layer interneurons (MLIs) in the cerebellum. The mice were given a sugar water reward if they licked a water spout in the presence of a specific, pleasant odour and they avoided a timeout when they refrained from licking in the presence of unscented mineral oil.

At first, the MLI responses did not differ between odors. But with learning, the reward odor prompted a large increase in MLI calcium responses. When the stimuli were reversed, the MLI switched responses to the odors.

When the scientists intervened with chemogenetic agents to inhibit MLI activity, the mice floundered and became less effective in making `go-no go' decisions.

The data indicate that the MLIs have a role in learning valence. That is, it helps determine whether something is good for me or not.

The findings further illuminate the function of the cerebellum, long associated primarily with movement. But it also plays a key role in cognition and emotion and is associated with non-motor conditions such as autism spectrum disorders

A lot of learning goes on inside the cerebellum. The cerebellum may also be the place where quick choice arises. This study shows that it also coordinates both motion and decision making, when to go or not to go. And decision making.

Ming Ma et al, Molecular layer interneurons in the cerebellum encode for valence in associative learning, Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18034-2

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-split-second-decision.html?u...

Brain protein linked to seizures, abnormal social behaviors

A research team  has found a new mechanism responsible for the abnormal development of neuronal connections in the mouse brain that leads to seizures and abnormal social behaviors.

The researchers focused on the area of the brain called hippocampus, which plays an important role in learning and social interactions; and synapses, which are specialized contacts between neurons.

Each neuron in the brain receives numerous excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs. The balance between excitation and inhibition in neuronal circuits, known as E/I balance and thought to be essential for circuit function and stability and important for information processing in the central nervous system, can play a role in causing many neurological disorders, including epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder, and schizophrenia.

The researchers also focused on a protein called ephrin-B1, which spans the membrane surrounding the cell and plays a role in maintaining the nervous system. The goal of their study was to determine if the deletion or over-production of ephrin-B1 in astrocytes—glial cells in the brain that regulate synaptic connections between neurons—affects synapse formation and maturation in the developing hippocampus and alters the E/I balance, leading to behavioral deficits.

 They found the changes in the E/I balance are regulated by astrocytes in the developing brain through the ephrin protein. Further, astrocytic ephrin-B1 is linked to the development of inhibitory networks in the hippocampus during a critical developmental period, which is a new and unexpected discovery. Specifically, the researchers show the loss of astrocytic ephrin-B1 tilts the E/I balance in favor of excitation by reducing inhibition, which then hyperactivates the neuronal circuits. This hyperactivity manifests as reduced sociability in the mice and suggests they can serve as a new model to study autism spectrum disorder.

Amanda Q Nguyen et al, Astrocytic ephrin-B1 controls excitatory-inhibitory balance in developing hippocampus, The Journal of Neuroscience (2020). DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0413-20.2020

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-brain-protein-linked-seizure...

Why different measurements of material properties sometimes give different results

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-material-properties-results.html?utm_...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Why-different-measurem...   - check %%

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A Strange Form of Life Could Flourish Deep Inside of Stars, Physicists Say

https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-argue-that-life-based-on-co...

The coronavirus is most deadly if you are older and male — new data reveal the risks

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02483-2?utm_source=Natur...

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https://theconversation.com/are-women-leaders-really-doing-better-o...

Are women leaders really doing better on coronavirus? The data backs it up

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 Is a Bradykinin Storm Brewing in COVID-19?

Excess of the inflammatory molecule bradykinin may explain the fluid build-up in the lungs of patients with coronavirus infections. Clinical trials of inhibitors are putting this hypothesis to the test.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/is-a-bradykinin-storm-br...

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Blood Replacement Rescues Mice from Stroke Damage

When mice that had suffered a stroke were given blood from a healthy donor, they experienced less tissue and neurological damage.

Researchers have partially mitigated the effects of an ischemic stroke in mice simply by replacing a small amount of their blood with that of a healthy donor. Days after receiving the transplant, mice had less tissue damage surrounding the clot and suffered fewer neurological side effects compared to mice that had not received a blood infusion. 

The results, published August 25 in Nature Communications, highlight the link between strokes in the brain and the immune system. At least some of the damage caused by strokes, the authors say, is the result of an overreactive immune response during which cells sent to an injury to fight infection and facilitate repair instead harm sensitive brain tissue. 

In the moments following a stroke, the body activates a complex immunological response, funneling messenger molecules past the blood-brain barrier and into the blood to recruit immune cells to the damaged area. Neutrophils—white blood cells that are often the first to arrive—increase the levels of an enzyme called MMP-9 that degrades the blood-brain barrier further, the better to allow more immune cells and signaling molecules to pass through. In some instances, the body can release too many of these molecules, such as cytokines, into the blood at once, and the resulting cytokine storm can damage brain tissue surrounding a clot, causing inflammation and degeneration of brain tissue.

To better understand the immunological link between brain and blood, the researchers used a mouse model to mimic an ischemic stroke that was subsequently cleared by the scientists after 90 minutes. Between six and seven hours after the stroke, the mice received a blood transfusion of either 250 or 500 microliters of blood from a healthy donor, roughly 10 percent to 20 percent of a mouse’s total blood volume, after the same volume had been removed from the animal. One hour later, the scientists tested the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, followed by a measure of the amount of damaged brain tissue 24 hours after treatment.

Mice that received blood replacements suffered fewer ill effects than control mice, with the benefits being strongest in the group receiving a larger volume of new blood. The extent of tissue damage surrounding the clot decreased by as much as 70 percent to 80 percent, and cognitive defects brought on by the stroke improved in treated mice. Both the decrease in tissue damage and the rescuing of neurological deficits persisted for at least three days after the initial stroke.

The broader effect of replacing blood seems to be a dampening of the immune response.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17930-x

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/blood-replacement-rescue...

Blood pressure-lowering is even more beneficial than previously thought

Blood pressure medication can prevent heart attacks and strokes -- even in people with normal blood pressure. That's the finding of a meta analysis

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200901094058.htm

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Origin of a complex life form revealed

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-complex-life-revealed.html?utm_source...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Origin-of-a-complex-li...

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Heaviest black hole merger is among three recent gravitational wave discoveries

Scientists observed what appears to be a bulked-up black hole tangling with a more ordinary one. They detected two black holes merging, but one of the black holes was 1 1/2 times more massive than any ever observed in a black hole collision. The researchers believe the heavier black hole in the pair may be the result of a previous merger between two black holes.This type of hierarchical combining of black holes has been hypothesized in the past but the observed event, labeled GW190521, would be the first evidence for such activity. 

The scientists identified the merging black holes by detecting the gravitational waves—ripples in the fabric of space-time—produced in the final moments of the merger.

The larger black hole in the merging pair has a mass 85 times greater than the sun. One possible scenario suggested by the new papers is that the larger object may have been the result of a previous black hole merger rather than a single collapsing star. According to current understanding, stars that could give birth to black holes with masses between 65 and 135 times greater than the sun don't collapse when they die. Therefore, we don't expect them to form black holes.

All three events now observed, are novel with masses or mass ratios that we've never seen before

The research paper, "GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Coalescence with a Total Mass of 150 Solar Masses," was published in Physical Review Letters on September 2, 2020: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.101102

The research paper, "Properties and Astrophysical Implications of the 150 Solar Mass Binary Black Hole Merger GW190521," was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters on September 2, 2020: DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/aba493

The research paper, "GW190814: Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 23 Solar Mass Black Hole with a 2.6 Solar Mass Compact Object," was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters on June 23, 2020.

The research paper, "GW190412: Observation of a Binary-Black-Hole Coalescence with Asymmetric Masses," has been accepted for publication in Physical Review D, and was published on Arxiv on April 17, 2020: arxiv.org/abs/2004.08342

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-heaviest-black-hole-merger-gravitatio...

Study details how general anesthetics and 'benzos' act on receptors in the brain

As you drift into unconsciousness before a surgery, general anesthetic drugs flowing through your blood are putting you to sleep by binding mainly to a protein in the brain called the γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA_A) receptor. Now UT Southwestern scientists have shown exactly how anesthetics attach to the GABA_A receptor and alter its three-dimensional structure, and how the brain can tell the difference between anesthetics and the psychoactive drugs known as benzodiazepines—which also bind to the GABA_A receptor. The findings were published online today in the journal Nature.

The GABA_A receptor is an ion channel; when it's in an open conformation, it allows chloride ions to flow through. This movement of ions decreases the signaling of brain cells, calming brain activity. So stimulating the GABA_A receptor—as anesthetics, benzodiazepines, alcohol, anti-seizure, and some sleep medications all do—quiets the brain in a variety of ways.

The team discovered that both general anesthetics and diazepam could bind to multiple places on the GABA_A molecule. One site—dubbed the "benzo site" in earlier research—was unique to the diazepam. But another site overlapped between the two drug types. When diazepam was present at high enough doses, it bound to this site that was more often used by the anesthetics. This observation could explain why high doses of benzodiazepines like diazepam can have anesthetic-like effects. The researchers also found differences among the general anesthetics; phenobarbital, for instance, bound to a place on GABA_A that neither etomidate nor propofol attached, and seemed to be less choosy about where it bound.

Shared structural mechanisms of general anaesthetics and benzodiazepines, Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2654-5 , www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2654-5

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-anesthetics-benzos-receptors-brain.ht...

Researchers reprogram yeast cells to become microscopic drug factories

Since antiquity, cultures on nearly every continent have discovered that certain plant leaves, when chewed or brewed or rubbed on the body, could relieve diverse ailments, inspire hallucinations or, in higher dosages, even cause death. Today, pharmaceutical companies import these once-rare plants from specialized farms and extract their active chemical compounds to make drugs like scopolamine for relieving motion sickness and postoperative nausea, and atropine, to curb the drooling associated with Parkinson's disease or help maintain cardiac function when intubating COVID-19 patients and placing them on ventilators.

Now, Stanford engineers are recreating these ancient remedies in a thoroughly modern way by genetically reprogramming the cellular machinery of a special strain of yeast, effectively transforming them into microscopic factories that convert sugars and amino acids into these folkloric drugs, in much the same way that brewers' yeast can naturally convert sugars into alcohol.

Biosynthesis of medicinal tropane alkaloids in yeast, Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2650-9 , www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2650-9

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-reprogram-yeast-cells-microscopic-dru...

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Has Earth's oxygen rusted the Moon for billions of years?

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-earth-oxygen-rusted-moon-billions.htm...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Has-Earths-oxygen-rust...;   --check %%

Oldest radiocarbon dated temperate hardwood tree in the world discovered

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-oldest-radiocarbon-dated-temperate-ha...

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How to remove unwanted components from the cell nucleus

The organization of cells into specific compartments is critical for their function. For instance, by separating the nucleus from the cytoplasm, the nuclear envelope prevents premature translation of immature RNAs.

During mitosis, however, thenuclear envelope disassembles, allowing large cytoplasmic components such as ribosomes to mix with nuclear material. When the nuclear envelope reassembles following mitosis, these cytoplasmic components must once again be removed. "The nuclear envelope can contribute to this by actively importing or exporting substrates up to a certain size, but it was not clear what happens with very large cytoplasmic components Until now.

A research team from has now shown that large components such as ribosomes are in fact removed from the forming nucleus before the nuclear envelope is assembled again. This exclusion process requires the protein Ki-67. In a older study it was discovered that Ki-67 was responsible for keeping chromosomes separated in early stages of mitosis by acting as a surfactant. Remarkably, it was now found that it changes its properties at the end of mitosis and performs the opposite function, namely clustering of chromosomes.

By coming together into a dense cluster at the end of cell division, chromosomes are able to exclude large cytoplasmic components before the nuclear envelope reforms.

This work shows how a single protein can dynamically change the surface properties of chromosomes.

Ultimately, this facilitates effective compartmentalisation of key processes within the cell.

Daniel Gerlich et al. Chromosome clustering by Ki-67 excludes cytoplasm during nuclear assembly. Nature, published on 02 September 2020. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2672-3

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-unwanted-components-cell-nucleus.html...

Revolutionary quantum breakthrough paves way for safer online communication

The world is one step closer to having a totally secure internet and an answer to the growing threat of cyber-attacks, thanks to a team of international scientists who have created a unique prototype which could transform how we communicate online.

S.K. Joshi el al., "A trusted node–free eight-user metropolitan quantum communication network," Science Advances (2020). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … .1126/sciadv.aba0959

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-revolutionary-quantum-breakthrough-pa...

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Asphalt adds to air pollution, especially on hot, sunny days

Asphalt is a near-ubiquitous substance—it's found in roads, on roofs and in driveways—but its chemical emissions rarely figure into urban air quality management plans.

A new study finds that asphalt is a significant source of air pollutants in urban areas, especially on hot and sunny days.

Researchers observed that common road and roofing asphalts produced complex mixtures of organic compounds, including hazardous pollutants, in a range of typical temperature and solar conditions.

 P. Khare el al., "Asphalt-related emissions are a major missing nontraditional source of secondary organic aerosol precursors," Science Advances (2020). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … .1126/sciadv.abb9785

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-asphalt-air-pollution-hot-sunny.html?...

Massive release of methane gas from the seafloor discovered for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere

Gas hydrate is an ice-like substance formed by water and methane at depths of several hundred meters at the bottom of our oceans at high pressure and low temperatures. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, roughly 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and it is estimated that methane frozen in these sediments constitute the largest organic carbon reservoir on Earth. The fact that methane gas has now started leaking out through gas hydrate dissociation is not good news for the climate.

It has been estimated that there are more organic carbon in the form of methane in hydrates than in all fossil fuels combined. The leakage of methane could lead to a feedback loop in which the ocean warming melts gas hydrates resulting in the release of methane from the ocean floor into the water. The warmer it gets, the more methane leaks out.

This process is believed to have triggered and amplified climate changes in our geological past.

Marcelo Ketzer et al. Gas hydrate dissociation linked to contemporary ocean warming in the southern hemisphere, Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17289-z

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-massive-methane-gas-seafloor-southern...

 The widespread footprint of blue jean microfibers

Blue jeans are a more popular wardrobe choice undoubtdly. But most people don't think about microscopic remnants of their comfy jeans and other clothing that are shed during laundering. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology Letters have detected indigo denim microfibers not only in wastewater effluent, but also in lakes and remote Arctic marine sediments.

Samantha N. Athey et al. The Widespread Environmental Footprint of Indigo Denim Microfibers from Blue Jeans, Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2020). DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00498

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-widespread-footprint-blue-jean-microf...

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  Viruses could be harder to kill after adapting to warm environments

Enteroviruses and other pathogenic viruses that make their way into surface waters can be inactivated by heat, sunshine and other microbes, thereby reducing their ability to spread disease. But researchers report now that global warming could cause viruses to evolve, rendering them less susceptible to these and other disinfectants, such as chlorine. They also say that this greater hardiness could increase the length of time heat-adapted viruses would be infectious enough to sicken someone who comes in contact with contaminated water.

Anna Carratalà et al. Adaptation of Human Enterovirus to Warm Environments Leads to Resistance against Chlorine Disinfection, Environmental Science & Technology (2020). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c03199

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-viruses-harder-environments.html?utm_...

Weekly injection could treat type 2 diabetes, new enzyme discovery suggests

A newly discovered protein produced by the liver, and which helps to control blood sugar levels, could potentially revolutionise treatment for type 2 diabetes.

https://theconversation.com/weekly-injection-could-treat-type-2-dia...

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How ‘elite controllers’ tame HIV without drugs

In a handful of people living with HIV, the virus remains at undetectable levels, sometimes for many years, even though HIV genes still lurk in their chromosomes. These ‘elite controllers’ seem to be able to stash the viral DNA in quiet corners of the chromosome, where it struggles to replicate. Scientists managed to gather dozens of these individuals to analyse their genomes in an effort to better understand their superpower.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/how-elite-controllers-tame-...

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A Molecule in Honeybee Venom Destroys Breast Cancer Cells in The Lab, Study Shows

https://www.sciencealert.com/bees-formidable-weapons-could-successf...

Scientific American vs. the Supernatural

This magazine launched a contest to prove, or disprove, the existence of ghosts

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientific-american-vs-t...

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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/08/gertrude-elion-a...

Meet the woman who gave the world antiviral drugs

Fifty years ago, few scientists believed a drug could fight viruses with low side effects. Then Gertrude Elion showed the doubters "what I could do on my own."

Researchers warn of food-web threats from common insecticides

In light of emerging evidence showing how a commonly used class of insecticides can spread through the environment to pollinators, predators and other insects they are not intended to kill, researchers are warning about the potential for widespread environmental contamination.

They argued for curbing the use of neonicotinoid insecticides by discontinuing the practice of applying them preventively on crop seeds.

They argue that reducing this and other common preventive practices could reduce cascading effects on the environment from insecticides whose risks have not been fully characterized.  Neonicotinoids are among the most toxic insecticides to insects ever developed. These insecticides are used in crops, lawns and landscapes, livestock production and even in pet flea and tick products. They are also used in lawns, commercial landscapes and to protect trees.

They are applied to hundreds of thousands of trees each year for protection from exotic pests, which can be lethal to trees, but also from cosmetic pests, which generally are not lethal.

Recently, a study uncovered a new way that neonicotinoids can spread through the food chain. We've known that neonicotinoids can be transmitted through nectar and pollen and can harm pollinators that way—directly from the plants. We've known that if herbivores feed on the plants and predators eat those herbivores, that they could be harmed because the neonicotinoids accumulate in the herbivores' bodies. This was a new revelation that it could be transmitted through the herbivore to the environment as a carbohydrate that a lot of animals feed on.

this raises the potential for additional off-target effects to other organisms as the toxin is spread by organisms that are not killed as they ingest it.

This adds one more example of how the material can move in a three-part food chain from the plant to an herbivore to a predator. If ingested by organisms that are not killed directly, those organisms could pass the toxin on to insects, birds, amphibians or others. Even though the neonicotinoids have relatively low mammalian toxicity, which makes them safer for applicators, there is still risk of some toxicity, and there could be toxicity for other vertebrates.

S. D. Frank et al, Opinion: Neonicotinoids pose undocumented threats to food webs, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2017221117

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-food-web-threats-common-insecticides....

Scientists discover new rules about 'runaway' transcription

Grace E. Johnson et al. Functionally uncoupled transcription–translation in Bacillus subtilis, Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2638-5

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-scientists-runaway-transcription.html...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Scientists-discover-ne...;  - Check %%

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Could plants help us find dead bodies? Forensic botanists want to know

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-dead-bodies-forensic-botanists.html?u...

Trends in Plant Science, Brabazon et al.: "Plants to remotely detect human decomposition?" www.cell.com/trends/plant-scie … 1360-1385(20)30243-0 , DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2020.07.013

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Could-plants-help-us-f...;   --check %%

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** The Dangers of Intellectual Territorialism

Narrow expertise has its value, but it’s also vital to let scientists step out of their “lanes”

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-dangers-of-intellect...

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How Groups of Cells Cooperate to Build Organs and Organisms

LHC creates matter from light

The Large Hadron Collider plays with Albert Einstein's famous equation, E = mc², to transform matter into energy and then back into different forms of matter. But on rare occasions, it can skip the first step and collide pure energy—in the form of electromagnetic waves.

Last year, the ATLAS experiment at the LHC observed two photons, particles of light, ricocheting off one another and producing two new photons. This year, they've taken that research a step further and discovered photons merging and transforming into something even more interesting: W bosons, particles that carry the weak force, which governs nuclear decay.

This research doesn't just illustrate the central concept governing processes inside the LHC: that energy and matter are two sides of the same coin. It also confirms that at high enough energies, forces that seem separate in our everyday lives—electromagnetism and the weak force—are united.

Inside CERN's accelerator complex, protons are accelerated close to the speed of light. Their normally rounded forms squish along the direction of motion as special relativity supersedes the classical laws of motion for processes taking place at the LHC. The two incoming protons see each other as compressed pancakes accompanied by an equally squeezed electromagnetic field (protons are charged, and all charged particles have an electromagnetic field). The energy of the LHC combined with the length contraction boosts the strength of the protons' electromagnetic fields by a factor of 7500.

When two protons graze each other, their squished electromagnetic fields intersect. These fields skip the classical "amplify" etiquette that applies at low energies and instead follow the rules outlined by quantum electrodynamics. Through these new laws, the two fields can merge and become the "E" in E=mc².

"If you read the equation E=mc² from right to left, you'll see that a small amount of mass produces a huge amount of energy because of the c² constant, which is the speed of light squared. But if you look at the formula the other way around, you'll see that you need to start with a huge amount of energy to produce even a tiny amount of mass.

The LHC is one of the few places on Earth that can produce and collide energetic photons, and it's the only place where scientists have seen two energetic photons merging and transforming into massive W bosons.

The generation of W bosons from high-energy photons exemplifies the discovery that won Sheldon Glashow, Abdus Salam and Steven Weinberg the 1979 Nobel Prize in physics: At high energies, electromagnetism and the weak force are one in the same.

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-lhc.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_...

https://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/lhc-creates-matter-from-light

In butterfly battle of sexes, males deploy 'chastity belts' but females fight back

Some male butterflies go to extreme lengths to ensure their paternity—sealing their mate's genitalia with a waxy "chastity belt" to prevent future liaisons. But female butterflies can fight back by evolving larger or more complex organs that are tougher to plug. Males, in turn, counterattack by fastening on even more fantastic structures with winglike projections, slippery scales or pointy hooks.

It's a battle that pits male and female reproductive interests against one another, with the losing sex evolving adaptations to thwart the winner's strategies.

Could this sexual one-upmanship ultimately result in new species? It's a longstanding hypothesis and one that would help explain how butterflies became so diverse. But this last one proved wrong, as species evolution has other factors too to consider. 

Found in about 1% of butterfly species, external mating plugs, also known as sphragis, can resemble a scab or a blob of petroleum jelly in some species while others take astonishingly architectural forms.

But they all serve the same purpose: enforcing female monogamy. Because a female butterfly fertilizes the majority of her eggs with sperm from her last partner, males have a vested interest in blocking rivals. Females, however, stand to benefit by mating with more than one male. Another partner may provide higher-quality sperm, and multiple mating events can increase the genetic diversity of offspring. Plus, females get a health.

To help guarantee their own successors, males in plug-producing species omit the courtship behavior that often precedes mating in other butterflies. Instead, "males pursue the females, grab them midair and drag them to the ground," Carvalho said. After depositing their sperm, males excrete a pre-molded mating plug, which hardens on the female's abdomen.

Plugs may indirectly constrain males as well. Making a mating plug is an expensive investment of time and resources, potentially limiting how many females a male can inseminate. Whether females can remove the plug requires further study, but in her fieldwork and museum specimen analysis, Carvalho noted the structures were often partially broken or missing in species with smaller, more delicate plugs. In species with large, complex plugs, she usually found the structures intact and rarely encountered a female without one—a sign that males may be "winning."

This study revealed some female victories as well. In the evolutionary family tree constructed for Acraeini butterflies, evidence ‘s found that mating plugs originated once across the tribe and were subsequently lost in some species, suggesting a successful female counteroffensive. Wide variations in the shape and size of female genitalia also hint at attempts to render mating plugs ineffective.

Ana Paula S Carvalho et al, Is Sexual Conflict a Driver of Speciation? A Case Study With a Tribe of Brush-footed Butterflies, Systematic Biology (2020). DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syaa070

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-butterfly-sexes-males-deploy-chastity...

Toy boats float upside down underneath a layer of levitated liquid

The upward force of buoyancy keeps objects afloat even in unusual conditions

For the first time scientists captured images of cells at work inside our lungs

Discovery provides new insights on how our immune system battles deadly bacteria and viruses like flu and COVID-19

Scientists have discovered how to capture 'live' images of immune cells inside the lungs. The group is the first in the world to find a way to record, in real time, how the immune system battles bacteria impacting the alveoli, or air sacs, in the lungs of mice. The discovery has already provided new insights about the immune systems' cleaners, called alveolar macrophages.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200903115735.htm

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How screen time and green time may affect youth psychological outcomes

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-screen-green-affect-youth-ps...

New experimental evidence that the quantum world is even stranger than we thought

New experimental evidence of a collective behavior of electrons to form "quasiparticles" called "anyons" has been reported by a team of scientists .

Anyons have characteristics not seen in other subatomic particles, including exhibiting fractional charge and fractional statistics that maintain a "memory" of their interactions with other quasiparticles by inducing quantum mechanical phase changes. The name "anyon" due to their strange behavior because unlike other types of particles, they can adopt "any" quantum phase when their positions are exchanged.

Before the growing evidence of anyons in 2020, physicists had categorized particles in the known world into two groups: fermions and bosons. Electrons are an example of fermions, and photons, which make up light and radio waves, are bosons. One characteristic difference between fermions and bosons is how the particles act when they are looped, or braided, around each other. Fermions respond in one straightforward way, and bosons in another expected and straightforward way.

Anyons respond as if they have a fractional charge, and even more interestingly, create a nontrivial phase change as they braid around one another. This can give the anyons a type of "memory" of their interaction.

Anyons only exist as collective excitations of electrons under special circumstances.

J. Nakamura et al. Direct observation of anyonic braiding statistics, Nature Physics (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-1019-1

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-evidence-quantum-world-stranger-thoug...

Fastest growing plant ….

The world record for the fastest growing plant belongs to certain species of the 45 genera of bamboo, which have been found to grow at up to 91 cm (35 in) per day or at a rate of 0.00003 km/h (0.00002 mph). According to the RHS Dictionary of Gardening, there are approximately 1,000 species of bamboos.

The genetics of blood: A global perspective

What's the risk of different human populations to develop a disease? To find out, a team of researchers created an international consortium to study the blood of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

By testing more than 45 million genetic variations in each participant, they have found more than 5,000 mutations in human DNA that affect the blood characteristics of populations around the world.

Close to 750,000 participants from five major populations—European, African, Hispanic, East Asian and South Asian—were tested to see the effect of genetic mutations on characteristics in their blood.

These characteristics include such things as hemoglobin concentration and platelet counts.

Each human population is subject to different environments. 

Over thousands of years these environmental pressures have resulted in the progressive appearance of variations in DNA, called genetic mutations, which can influence our physical characteristics, such as skin size or color, but also our risk of getting certain diseases.

This observation (of how the environment affects how people's appearance and health vary in different parts of the world) represents the cornerstone of the theory of evolution by natural selection proposed by Charles Darwin in 1859.

This new study shows  that the vast majority of mutations associated with blood cells were common to all five major population groups.

he researchers also found about 100 mutations whose effect was restricted to certain populations and which, it turns out, are not found in people of European descent.

For example, in individuals of South Asian origin, the researchers identified a mutation in the interleukin-7 gene that stimulates the secretion of this molecule and thus increases the levels of lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell in the immune system) circulating in their blood.

Of course, this kind of mutation can affect the health of people of South Asian origin, it 's hypothesised.  It's thought that this mutation could influence their capacity to resist certain infections or develop diseases like blood cancer.

By comparing the genetic results obtained in each population, the researchers were able to prioritize certain genes that appear to have an overall effect on blood cell production.

This will make it possible, over the long term, to improve ways of predicting the risk of suffering from certain diseases and to develop new, more effective treatments.

Ming-Huei Chen et al, Trans-ethnic and Ancestry-Specific Blood-Cell Genetics in 746,667 Individuals from 5 Global Populations, Cell (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.06.045

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-genetics-blood-global-perspe...

Uncovering the genetics behind heart attacks that surprise young, healthy women

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-uncovering-genetics-heart-yo...

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Researchers identify nanobody that may prevent COVID-19 infection

Researchers  have identified a small neutralizing antibody, a so-called nanobody, that has the capacity to block SARS-CoV-2 from entering human cells. The researchers think this nanobody has the potential to be developed as an antiviral treatment against COVID-19.

An alpaca nanobody neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 by blocking receptor interaction, Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18174-5 , www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18174-5

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-nanobody-covid-infection.html?utm_sou...

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Nano particles for healthy tissue

"Eat your vitamins" might be replaced with "ingest your ceramic nano-particles" in the future as space research is giving more weight to the idea that nanoscopic particles could help protect cells from common causes of damage.

Oxidative stress occurs in our bodies when cells lose the natural balance of electrons in the molecules that we are made of. This is a common and constant occurrence that is part of our metabolism but also plays a role in the aging process  and several pathological conditions, such as heart failure, muscle atrophy and Parkinson's disease.

The best advice for keeping your body in balance and avoiding oxidative stress is still to have a healthy diet and eat enough vitamins, but nanoparticles are showing promising results in keeping cells in shape.

When in space, astronauts have been shown to suffer from more oxidative stress due to the extra radiation they receive and as a by-product of floating in weightlessness, so researchers in Italy were keen to see if nanoparticles would have the same protective effect on cells on the International Space Station as on Earth.

The effect the researchers observed seems to imply that nanoparticles work better and longer than traditional antioxidants such as vitamins.

Giada Graziana Genchi et al. Modulation of gene expression in rat muscle cells following treatment with nanoceria in different gravity regimes, Nanomedicine (2018). DOI: 10.2217/nnm-2018-0316

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-nano-particles-healthy-tissue.html?ut...

Scientists develop new compound which kills both types of antibiotic resistant superbugs

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-scientists-compound-antibiotic-resist...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Scientists-develop-new...    check %%

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Plant protein discovery could reduce need for fertilizer

Researchers have discovered how a protein in plant roots controls the uptake of minerals and water, a finding which could improve the tolerance of agricultural crops to climate change and reduce the need for chemical fertilizers.

Guilhem Reyt et al, Uclacyanin Proteins Are Required for Lignified Nanodomain Formation within Casparian Strips, Current Biology (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.07.095

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-protein-discovery-fertilizer.html?utm...

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India will supply coronavirus vaccines to the world — will its people benefit?

Did you know lime juice burns your skin in the sun? Find out why ….

By Losing Genes, Life Often Evolved More Complexity

The amazing phenomenon of sonic booms

 Researchers find a cause and possible treatment for Fragile X syndrome

Scientists have discovered an underlying mechanism for Fragile X syndrome — a leading cause of autism and the primary genetic driver of intellectual disability — as well as a drug that reversed the underlying abnormality and autism-like behaviors in mice. Their research appears in the Sept. 3 edition of the journal Cell.

Fragile X, a genetic disorder linked to the X chromosome, leads to learning disabilities, cognitive impairment, and many features of autism, including social difficulties. Approximately one in 7,000 males and one in 11,000 females have the syndrome. Fragile X typically becomes evident in children by age 2.

The new Yale study deepens basic understanding of the syndrome and demonstrates early promise for a previously unexplored avenue for treatment.

In the study researchers focused on a protein called adenosine triphosphate synthase, which is present in nearly all cells in the body. It uses energy from food to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that is a major energy source for cells.

In Fragile X syndrome, cells’ ATP-making function is abnormal,the team found. Specifically, the cells’ mitochondria — which process fuel to make ATP — have a leaky inner membrane.

This leaky membrane is making the process of ATP production inefficient. In Fragile X neurons, the synapses fail to mature during development. The synapses remain in an immature state and this seems to be related to their immature metabolism. 
When a leak in the cell’s mitochondria short-circuits efficient functioning of the synapse, memory, learning and typical brain development are all compromised.

Source: https://news.yale.edu/2020/09/03/yale-researchers-find-cause-and-po...

https://researchnews.cc/news/2359/Yale-researchers-find-a-cause-and...

Cosmonaut Brain Scans Show Space Does Weird Things to Motor Skills And Vision

https://www.sciencealert.com/cosmonaut-brain-study-shows-how-space-...

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Patients with COVID-19 shouldn’t have to die alone. Here’s how a loved one could be there at the end

We can strike a balance between minimising transmission risk and practising compassion to allow loved ones to visit patients with COVID-19 in ICU at the end of their lives.

https://theconversation.com/patients-with-covid-19-shouldnt-have-to...

How stone forests get their spikes

Stone forests—pointed rock formations resembling trees that populate regions of China, Madagascar, and many other locations worldwide—are as majestic as they are mysterious, created by uncertain forces that give them their shape.

A team of scientists has now shed new light on how these natural structures are created. Through a series of simulations and experiments, they show how flowing water carves ultra-sharp spikes in landforms. In their study, the scientists simulated the formation of these pinnacles over time through a mathematical model and computer simulations that took into account how dissolving produces flows and how these flows also affect dissolving and thus reshaping of a formation.

To confirm the validity of their simulations, the researchers conducted a series of experiments in NYU's Applied Mathematics Lab. Here, the scientists replicated the formation of these natural structures by creating sugar-based pinnacles, mimicking soluble rocks that compose karst and similar topographies, and submerging them in tanks of water. Interestingly, no flows had to be imposed, since the dissolving process itself created the flow patterns needed to carve spikes.

The experimental results reflected those of the simulations, thereby supporting the accuracy of the researchers' model (see "Video2ExperimentSimulation" in the below drive). The authors speculate that these same events happen—albeit far more slowly—when minerals are submerged under water, which later recedes to reveal stone pinnacles and stone forests.

 Jinzi Mac Huang el al., "Ultra-sharp pinnacles sculpted by natural convective dissolution," PNAS (2020). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2001524117

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-stone-forests-spikes.html?utm_source=...

Stone forest ( Image credit: Google images)

Children use both brain hemispheres to understand language, unlike adults

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-children-brain-hemispheres-l...

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Superconductors are super resilient to magnetic fields

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-superconductors-super-resilient-magne...

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Alternative leather from fungi

https://phys.org/news/2019-12-alternative-leather-fungi.html

Animal skin is an excellent material, but the tanning process of leather causes significant chromium emissions that are damaging to the environment and human health. Synthetic leathers also burden the environment and fail to match the quality and durability of animal leather. Therefore, new bio-based replacement materials are sought for leather. Researchers now are using fungal mycelium to produce skinlike material that would be suited for industrial production.

For centuries, fungi and polypores have been used for making skinlike fabrics and accessories in Europe. Designers and researchers are now reviving this tradition to find sustainable alternatives to replace leather.

Scientists have been studying fungi and other microbes and their use in industrial biotechnology for quite a while. In laboratory conditions, fungal mycelium can be used to rapidly produce skinlike material with quite similar feel and tensile strength as animal skin.

Some items made of fungus-based leather are already being produced for commercial markets.

The production process of fungus-based leather represents creativity at its best: organic waste can be used as raw material for synthetic leather. Fungal mycelium can produce skinlike material out of, for example, food waste.

https://phys.org/news/2019-12-alternative-leather-fungi.html

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Alternative-leather-fr...; - check %%

MRI scans show brain reorganization during long space flights, but no neurodegeneration

An international team of researchers has found that long space flights can lead to some minor brain reorganization but no neurodegeneration.  

The group describes their study of the brains of cosmonauts returning from long-term missions aboard the International Space Station, and what they found.

The researchers found that the brain reorients itself during long space missions, essentially floating into different parts of the skull. This resulted in slight reorganization of the brain itself in response to the reorientation. The cosmonauts brains also responded in other ways to the unusual living environment—they acquired new motor skills and had better balance and coordination. The researchers also found that the reorientation did not result in neurodegeneration and that normal orientation was nearly restored seven months after the cosmonauts returned to Earth. They also confirmed fluid build-up behind the eyes as the reason for the loss of visual acuity during long space flights.

Steven Jillings et al. Macro- and microstructural changes in cosmonauts' brains after long-duration spaceflight, Science Advances (2020). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz9488

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-mri-scans-brain-space-flights.html?ut...

Genetic study of proteins is a breakthrough in drug development for complex diseases

An innovative genetic study of blood protein levels by researchers has demonstrated how genetic data can be used to support drug target prioritization by identifying the causal effects of proteins on diseases.

Phenome-wide Mendelian randomization mapping the influence of the plasma proteome on complex diseases, Nature Genetics (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41588-020-0682-6 , www.nature.com/articles/s41588-020-0682-6

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-genetic-proteins-breakthrough-drug-co...

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**New insight into mammalian stem cell evolution

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-insight-mammalian-stem-cell-evolution...

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** Methane-eating bacteria like nitrogen, too

Methane-eating bacteria can degrade ammonium in addition to methane, as discovered by microbiologists . Methane-eaters are important for the reduction of greenhouses gas emissions from volcanoes and other areas, but have not previously been linked with nitrogen emission.

Wouter Versantvoort et al., Multiheme hydroxylamine oxidoreductases produce NO during ammonia oxidation in methanotrophs. PNAS (2020). (to be published)

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-methane-eating-bacteria-nitrogen.html...

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Gulls pay attention to human eyes

Herring gulls notice where approaching humans are looking, and flee sooner when they're being watched, a new study shows.

Researchers approached gulls while either looking at the ground or directly at the birds.

Gulls were slower to move away when not being watched—allowing a human to get two metres closer on average.

Newly fledged gulls were just as likely to react to human gaze direction as older birds, suggesting they are born with this tendency or quickly learn it.

Madeleine Goumas et al. Herring gull aversion to gaze in urban and rural human settlements, Animal Behaviour (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.08.008

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-gulls-attention-human-eyes.html?utm_s...

Buffer could limit environmental spread of antibiotic resistance

Many livestock receive antibiotics that protect against bacterial diseases. But over time, antibiotics also trigger the evolution of bacteria that can resist them. Those antibiotic-resistant bacteria, in turn, can pass along genes responsible for that resistance to other bacterial species, ultimately reducing the effectiveness of the drugs

When manure from livestock administered with antibiotics is applied as fertilizer, antibiotic resistance genes can enter soil and, following precipitation, run off into rivers and other bodies of water, furthering their spread.

A research team  ran experiments to evaluate the minimum distance between a manure slurry-covered field and surface water that would prevent the runoff of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes. The team found that levels of all three antibiotics it measured, along with seven of the 10 resistance genes, substantially decreased as that distance increased.

The researchers concluded that maintaining between 112 and 220 feet of distance would limit most runoff pollution across a no-till field rich in the clay soils .

Because that recommended distance is specific to the experimental site, the team recommended running similar experiments with varying field conditions, soil types, slopes and rainfall amounts to calibrate suitable distances elsewhere.

Maria C. Hall et al. Influence of Setback Distance on Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Runoff and Soil Following the Land Application of Swine Manure Slurry, Environmental Science & Technology (2020). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b04834

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-buffer-limit-environmental-antibiotic...

How drones change our point of view and our truths

https://theconversation.com/eyes-on-the-world-drones-change-our-poi...

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Solar cell floats on a soap bubble
Materials scientists have made printed solar cells that are so thin, light and flexible that they can rest on the surface of a soap bubble.

https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-020-02493-0/index.html?utm_...

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These 3 Recent Studies Radically Change What We Understand About Dogs

https://www.sciencealert.com/three-new-studies-radically-change-wha...

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Scientists Awaken Deep Sea Bacteria After 100 Million Years

The microbes had survived on trace amounts of oxygen and were able to feed and multiply once revived in the lab.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/scientists-awaken-deep-s...

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 Gut Microbiome Composition Linked to Human Behavior

A study uncovers connections between the bacteria in our guts and our social lives.

https://www.the-scientist.com/the-literature/gut-microbiome-composi...

https://www.sciencealert.com/are-tardigrades-the-most-indestructibl...

Gut Microbiome Composition Linked to Human Behavior

A study uncovers connections between the bacteria in our guts and our social lives.

https://www.the-scientist.com/the-literature/gut-microbiome-composi...

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** People Are Making Face Masks With Period Blood. Is There Science To Back It?

https://www.idiva.com/beauty/tips/why-menstrual-blood-facials-are-a...

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What are corticosteroids and why are they effective at fighting severe COVID-19?

https://theconversation.com/what-are-corticosteroids-and-why-are-th...

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Plant living with only one leaf reveals fundamental genetics of pla...

https://researchnews.cc/news/2406/Plant-living-with-only-one-leaf-r...

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Climate explained: methane is short-lived in the atmosphere but leaves long-term damage

https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-methane-is-short-live...

New study discovers how the nervous system of human runners generat...

Running is a fundamental mode of human movement that most of us perform effortlessly without conscious thought. Some may run regularly for exercise, or even undergo serious, professional training for completing marathons. This apparent ease of running belies the enormous biomechanical complexity of running, the coordinated control of which is accomplished by an intricate neuronal network in the brain and spinal cord.

Researchers have recently discovered that the human nervous system is equipped with a mechanism that can flexibly adjust the motor commands for different running forms depending on the state of the body and the person’s prior running experience. This finding, which has just been published in Nature Communications, may allow researchers to design training strategies for promoting running forms that are more energetically efficient.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18210-4.

https://researchnews.cc/news/2405/New-study-discovers-how-the-nervo...

Real-time imaging shows how SARS-CoV-2 attacks human cells

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-real-time-imaging-sars-cov-human-cell...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Real-time-imaging-show... - check %%

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Devitrification demystified: Scientists show how glass crystallizes in real-time

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-devitrification-demystified.html?utm_...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Devitrification-demyst...; - check %%

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** Terahertz receiver for 6G wireless communications

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-terahertz-6g-wireless.html?utm_source...

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** Trees living fast die young

A global analysis reveals for the first time that across almost all tree species, fast growing trees have shorter lifespans. This international study further calls into question predictions that greater tree growth means greater carbon storage in forests in the long term.

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-trees-fast-die-young.html?utm_source=...

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The birth of a male sex chromosome in Atlantic herring

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-birth-male-sex-chromosome-atlantic.ht...